Jury Recesses for Weekend in Conspiracy Trial of Mayor

The jury in the felony conspiracy and perjury trial of Mayor Roger Hedgecock recessed for the weekend after failing to reach a verdict on Friday.

As the six-man, six-woman jury completed its second day of deliberations, both Assistant Dist. Atty. Richard D. Huffman and defense attorney Michael Pancer interpreted a question asked by the jurors on Friday morning as a sign that the panel still is in an early stage of reviewing the voluminous evidence and testimony in the case.

Superior Court Judge William L. Todd Jr. summoned both Huffman and Pancer to the courtroom after the jurors raised a question about a discrepancy in the date of a written invitation to a fund-raiser that Hedgecock sent to Nancy Hoover, a former principal in the now-bankrupt La Jolla investment firm of J. David & Co.

The document was a form invitation to a Valentine’s Day fund-raiser that Hedgecock personalized by adding a hand-written note saying, “Thanks for all your support,” with the word “all” underlined. Although the indictment against Hedgecock specifies that the note was sent on Jan. 14, 1983, a typographical error resulted in the letter being dated Jan. 14, 1982.

Later, Pancer returned with Huffman to the courtroom a second time and agreed that the jurors should be told that the 1982 date on the note was simply a typographical error.

“I just didn’t want to make a big deal out of this,” Pancer explained.

During the trial, Huffman pointed to the note--and particularly to Hedgecock’s “Thanks for all your support” addendum--as evidence that the mayor was aware that Hoover and financier J. David (Jerry) Dominelli were funneling illegal contributions to his 1983 campaign through a political consulting firm owned by Tom Shepard, a close friend of Hedgecock.

Hedgecock, however, argues that the more than $360,000 that Hoover and Dominelli invested in Tom Shepard & Associates was a routine business investment designed primarily to help Shepard start his own business, not to get Hedgecock elected mayor.

The jury, which must agree unanimously on a charge to bring a verdict, has 13 charges to deliberate. It is scheduled to resume its deliberations at 9 a.m. Monday.